Rebirth of ATTA may miss August deadline

ISLAMABAD Rebirth of 1965 Afghan Transit Trade Agreement (ATTA) is likely to miss the deadline of August-end when the existing pact will expire chiefly due to American insistence on permission for Indian transport through Wagah Border. Despite Pakistans outright rejection of this proposal, the Americans are continuously mounting pressure on Islamabad to allow road transit from India to Afghanistan, well-placed sources told TheNation. According to the sources, the Indian goods were already being transported to Afghanistan through Wagah but in a fashion of unloading and reloading at the border. On the other hand, the Afghan side was trying to exploit this clause in the 1965 ATTA to get permission for Indian or Afghan transports to run through Wagah border. That was next to impossible unless and until the core issues including Kashmir are resolved with India, a senior government official told TheNation requesting anonymity. This lack of understanding on part of the two sides has already postponed a meeting that was tentatively scheduled in Kabul this week on the revisiting of the ATTA, the official said. Now they (Afghan side) would convey us the new dates for the Kabul meeting, he added. Afghanistan, however, expects the signing of the new ATTA with Pakistan later this month, a move, which they believe could boost stability in the war-torn country. But this would be only possible if Pakistan agrees to forward-traffic with India, an Afghan diplomat said requesting not to be named. Considering the opening of Wagah border for Indian transports, even for the transit to Afghanistan, out of question, the Pakistan side is now focussing on curbing the smuggling under the garb of ATTA. Apart from the strategic and core disputes with India, the opening of Indian transportation through Pakistan would be lethal for Pakistans local industries, the official observed. According to the official, Pakistan has proposed during the ongoing negotiations revisiting the ATTA of 1965 either to determine a fixed quantity of certain goods that were very much prone to smuggling back into Pakistan, or to impose certain duty at Karachi port. Items becoming problematic for Pakistan include tea, cosmetics, electronics, tyres and others. However, the official told TheNation that the Afghan side was not giving due consideration to the issue of smuggling being raised by Pakistan in exploitation of ATTA. Whenever we raise this issue, they reiterate that it is responsibility of the respective governments to tackle the menace of smuggling in their territories, the official said. However, he described it as Pakistans success to make the smuggling issue as part of the official agenda of the ongoing bilateral negotiations on ATTAs renewal.